The USDA releases weekly crop progress reports during the growing season on the current status of crops in the U.S. These reports reveal vital information for commodity investors as they get an unbiased view of how well crops are developing during the growing season. Commodity investors tend to focus mainly on corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton when they analyze the USDA weekly crop reports, which are released every Monday.
The weekly reports coincide with the growing cycles of crops. They begin with information on the pace of planting progress to the percent of crops emerging from the ground all the way to the percent of crops that have been harvested.
The heart of the data usually revolves around the quality of the crops during the season. The USDA gathers data from thousands of crop reporters around the country to put together a fairly reliable measure of overall crop conditions. The scale includes ratings of very poor (VP), poor (P), fair (F), good (G) and excellent (EX). Commodity investors typically concentrate on the amount of crops rated good and excellent condition.
The USDA also provides the ratings and status for the previous year for the same week and the five-year average of the ratings. This is excellent information you can use for a frame of reference on how the crops look compared to previous years.
Crops that are being planted ahead of the five-year average typically get off to a good start and that tends to put pressure on that particular market. Crops that are also progressing ahead of the five-year average also tend to pressure prices. Oppositely, poor or deteriorating crop ratings tend to cause a rally in prices. These reports are monitored very closely during periods of adverse weather, so traders are see how much the weather has impacted crops.
The USDA weekly crop progress reports can be found at this website: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1048. You can choose the particular format in which to view the reports and you can also find historical reports here.
